Unitarity as preservation of entropy and entanglement in quantum systems

Abstract

The logical structure of Quantum Mechanics (QM) and its relation to other fundamental principles of Nature has been for decades a subject of intensive research. In particular, the question whether the dynamical axiom of QM can be derived from other principles has been often considered. In this contribution, we show that unitary evolutions arise as a consequences of demanding preservation of entropy in the evolution of a single pure quantum system, and preservation of entanglement in the evolution of composite quantum systems.

arXiv commentTo be submitted to the special issue of Foundations of Physics on the occassion of the seventieth birthday of Emilio Santos. v2: 10 pages, no figures, RevTeX4; Corrected and extended version, containing new results on consequences of entanglement preservation

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• Norms and Cones in the Theory of Quantum Entanglement
• Entanglement of a Single Spin-1 Object: An Example of Ubiquitous Entanglement
• Closed timelike curves and the second law of thermodynamics
• Decomposition of a system in pseudo-Hermitian quantum mechanics
• Nonlocal Generalized Quantum Measurements of Spin Products Without Maximal Entanglement